Blackie Boys Account ( continued)

.  I was ordered to take my cutting equipment below and burn through the bulkheads to let the sea in again.Six seaman and 6 stokers were required to stay on board apart from any officers needed. My seaman helper ,blacksmiths mate,volunteered to stay and help me. I often wonder if he is still alive in Ruislip Middlesex.

There was one lifeboat left aboard on the forward well deck. It had a hole in it and there were no shipwrights to repair it. The chief buffer( Senior lower deck seaman Chief) and our Yeoman of signals( God Bless them) decided we should attempt to make it seaworthy, The chief buffers name was "Tiddley" Hoy and he lived just outside Portsmouth. Yeos name I cant remember but a great pal he turned out to be, a true Yorkshireman, There were just a few of us on board and Yoe and I joined Tiddley in the chiefs mess, We were having a cup of tea at 4pm.When Winston Churchill broadcast to the"Vichy" French Fleet to make up their minds what they wanted to do.Sail out into the Med and take their chances, join up with the Ities or whatever. We looked out over the deck, Royal Navy torpedo boats were facing them. No way would they leave Alexandria. That evening I was ordered to make an inspection by my shipwright officer  and report to him when it was finished, This I did and went to the wardroom.
He came out to see me and brought me a treble brandy,this is NOT  the done thing in the Royal navy but as we were cut off from things and the thought that this might be the last thing we'd do, who cared,

The Senior Engineer Commander and  the Chief Engineer both brought me treble brandies  and my Shipwright offficer said" Get away to your bunk and sleep it off".That night there was an air raid. Two german bombers were shot down by I believe"Witney Straight' round Britain air race  a few years previous.

At Al Alamain the Germans were defeated.

The holes I had just cut through the engine room bulkhead had to be replated and waterproofed.Continuing to mmake the Glenroy seaworthy I had to meet the Chief and Senior  Engineer in the propellor shaft tunnel.The propellor was suspect.  was ordered to oxy-acytelene  burn of a propellor shaft clamp.As i diod this the propellor shaft moved. It was out of line. The propellor was removed by divers and secured on the after well deck.

Glenroy was ready for engine room overhall. Port and starboard engines were stripped. Cracks were found in the pistons running from the open end to the first piston  ring.I was asked by the engineers what I thought about welding one piston and if successful the other one. I said I could SIF bronze weld the two cracks if they could "V' the cracks out to take the weld and then have the weld machined and cleaned up later. I welded the first one and all went well and everyone was very pleased,so I did all the rest. The cracks were caused by the pressure of the water when the ship was hit.

Came the day when Glenroy was  to make her way back to England with only one escort destroyer , HMS Janus and she wasnt in a much better state than Glenroy< the order having been given that was it.

 We set sail for Suez all praying for a safe trip out of the med.Our luck held we reached cape town, On the way we called at Aden ,Madagascar and Durban. Fuel and water stops only no shore leave.A couple of our shipwright staff had found their way to Madagascar after leaving Glenroy and being told to make their own way. Next call Cape Town  ,Shore leave and then on our way again. A draft of Naval personnel came aboard ,next a motorised convey came to the ship.Armed guards were stationed around the area, gold bars and bounds were being carried  aboard and housed in a big iron cupboard on the forward troop deck.  A big group of top brass stood watching, the door was closed and a dockyard welder welded metal plates across to seal the cupboard up.This was now to be known as the bullion room. the shipwright staff in which I was included had to check the door on a rota  twice every two hours day and night, We also had to go down a jacobs ladder into the stinking  hold. Using only a temporary light over the "patch"We had to tap all the wedges under the shores against the patch with a shipwrights hammer called an adze.It was really weird going down alone in the hold at night,the ship rolling and creaking and all sorts of other noises. Climbing up and down a rope ladder isnt fun at the best of times. Both jobs completed a report had to be made to the officer of the watch."Patch and bullion correct Sir" This wasnt too hard in the daytime but I couldnt see too well in the dark.

To make ones way up from the after deck, with the ship rolling,was quite a feat. Arriving at the bridge there was usually five or 6 muffled up figures. Eventually the officer of the watch was found and a "patch and Bullion " report made.Then back to the mess thankful it was over for a while.

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